Fallen Gods
by HerRenegadeHeart
Summary: "Higgins? Come on, girl, open your eyes." Girl? He only was bold enough to use such an epithet when he was truly worried and feared her dying over her killing him. That thought made her want to fight, both to calm him and to tell him off. (2018 Reboot)
1. Chapter 1

His voice seemed so far away, just a murmur that she could barely make out. "Higgins? Come on, girl, open your eyes."

_Girl_? He only was bold enough to use such an epithet when he was truly worried and feared her dying over her killing him. That thought made her want to fight, both to calm him and to tell him off.

She struggled through the dark, following his voice upward until suddenly she felt herself rooted back within her body and by God did it hurt.

The moment Juliet cracked her eyes open, her skull flared with fire and she winced.

"Higgins?"

She flinched at the sound of his voice. "Magnum," she bit out through pain-clenched teeth, "_must_ you talk so loud?"

"I'm talking normally," Magnum quipped back, but though he spoke with levity, she could hear the heavy relief in his tone.

"Precisely." Higgins took a steeling breath and pushed herself slowly upward until she was propped up on her elbows, bracing as her vision swam. Concussion, definitely a concussion. She grit her teeth and went to sit all the way up.

"Easy," Magnum cautioned, his steadying hand hovering just behind her shoulder blade should she need help.

Higgins' vision tilted again and nausea twisted her stomach. She reached up and pressed a hand to the center point of her aching skull - the left side, directly above her temple, right at the hairline. Sticky warmth immediately met her fingers and she cringed. Blood.

"What happened? I came in and you were on the—"

It came back to her in a sickening rush and propelled her immediately to her feet as she gasped, "Apollo!" She swayed the moment she was upright and had to grip the nearby chair to keep from careening right back down.

"Higgins, whoa!" Magnum started, catching her by the elbow to steady her. "What—"

She cut him off again, pulling herself free of his grip and stumbling toward the open doors leading out onto the back lanai. "Apollo!" she repeated.

Magnum was following at her shoulder. "What about Apollo?" he asked, but he didn't need her to answer before it became clear.

Lying on his side in the grass just beyond the end of the veranda was Apollo.

Juliet felt her chest seize with fear. She staggered over as quickly as she could, dropping to her knees beside him. She reached out, but froze for half a moment, afraid that it might have already been over, but then he took a labored breath.

She heard Magnum curse behind her.

Apollo had what was clearly a bullet wound where the neck met the withers on the right side of his body. There was no exit. At first glance in the nighttime light, it was difficult to see against his dark fur. If it weren't for the sticky glisten of his blood, it might have taken Higgins longer to locate it. She pressed her hand to the wound and the dog whined, whipping his head up in clear pain.

"Easy, lad," Higgins soothed, her heart hammering with anxiety. She glanced back at Magnum to see he was already on the phone, calling for help.

"Katsumoto is on his way. So is EMS," he told her, ear still to his phone.

She frowned. "There isn't time. He needs to go to the emergency vet right now. I can call Doctor Ulani. She can meet us there." She could feel how labored Apollo's breathing was under her fingers and her hand was wet with his blood.

"EMS is for you, Higgins," he told her, moving to her side and crouching. "I'll take the dog."

She ignored him. He was out of his mind if he thought she was leaving Apollo. She shifted her weight back so she could see how best to pick the dog up.

"Higgins—"

"I'm not leaving him, Magnum," she snapped, whipping her head around to give him a _look_, but then immediately regretting the action when her vision instantly swam. She closed her eyes for a few seconds waiting for the dizziness to pass before reopening them and meeting Magnum's concerned gaze. "Now," she said, "are you going to help me with him or am I to do it on my own?"

Magnum's brow furrowed, but after a moment, it was clear he understood that she would not budge on this. "Alright," he acquiesced, his word huffed out with worried irritation. "Scratch that, Katsumoto. You can take her statement at…" he glanced at her for the location.

"Verdant Palms Veterinary Emergency," Higgins filled in.

Magnum repeated it back, then nodded as if the man on the phone could see him before he hung up. "Okay, I've got him, Higgins."

As soon as Magnum reached for him, the dog growled and it heartened Higgins to hear it. It meant he still had fight left in him. "Hush now, Apollo, it's alright. Let him," she soothed. The Doberman's shiny white teeth disappeared as he relaxed his snarl.

Juliet met Magnum's eyes and gave a nod. He took a breath and slipped his one arm beneath the dog, tucking it behind his front legs, and then placed the other behind Apollo's hindquarters, scooping him up in a careful, fluid motion. Higgins rose with him, a guiding hand hovering at Apollo's head. "Okay," Magnum said as he blew out a seemingly relieved breath, no doubt because Apollo had listened and not chewed his face off.

Through the house was the fastest way to get to the vehicles and Magnum immediately turned in that direction, but Juliet paused and scoured the dark yard with her eyes. "Zeus!" she called and waited, waited to hear his answering bark.

Silence.

She frowned and her stomach twisted further. "Zeus, come here, lad!" But again, nothing. She was conflicted. She knew she couldn't linger, not if they were going to save Apollo's life, but what if Zeus was out there just as injured? She whistled, but still no reply.

"Higgins…" Magnum said softly.

She clenched her jaw. "I know."

"I'll call Rick and TC. They can come look for Zeus and meet HPD here, okay? But we gotta go."

"Yes," she answered, trying to sound as sensible as possible, "of course."

Magnum nodded in return and they moved off, heading through the house and out to the cars. They paused at the Range Rover.

"I...I— the keys. I don't—" Juliet frowned deeply and pressed a hand to the side of her head, trying to ward off the pounding. Of course she didn't have the keys. They were inside.

The concerned look Magnum was giving her was not helping the situation either, but before she could retreat to go retrieve the keys or snap at him that she was fine, he turned his eyes to the Ferrari that he'd left parked beside the Range Rover and said, "Get in."

She didn't argue, there wasn't time. She got into the passenger side seat and he carefully lowered Apollo down to her. An awkward fit, but that didn't matter. As soon as the dog was in her lap, she returned her hand to his wound as she had been doing before, hoping to keep him from losing any more blood. Magnum jogged around the other side and got in. The Ferrari's twin-turbocharged V8 roared to life and they were gone.

The ride to the emergency vet was something of an anxious blur to Juliet. She had called Dr. Ulani and Magnum had called Rick and TC, but beyond that, it was just flashes of lights and sounds and a heavy, tightly-coiling weight in her gut. The only thing she was focused on was the up and down motion of Apollo's chest.

She hadn't even realized they'd arrived until Magnum was suddenly trying to lift the dog back out of her arms. "Higgins, let go." She blinked and looked up at him. His expression softened when she met his eyes. "We're here," he told her, "C'mon."

Juliet stared at him for a second or two longer than necessary before relinquishing her hold on Apollo so Magnum could pick him back up. She knew she was operating slower than usual, her abused brain taking more time to process what was going on, and she hated it. It made her feel vulnerable.

The looks she got from the office staff of clinic when they walked inside did not help her feel any better either. They took in Magnum and Apollo and were clearly concerned, but when they looked at Higgins, they seemed shocked. Juliet wondered for a moment how she must have appeared to elicit such looks out of the women.

The older of the two receptionists recovered faster and picked up the phone to page a code blue. A tech came out and they were ushered straight back to the X-ray suite where Dr. Ulani was already waiting. "Right here," she said, indicating to the table and with the guidance of one of the two techs in the room, Magnum lowered Apollo onto the table.

Dr. Ulani was visually assessing the dog and her expression was not a hopeful one. She brought her eyes up to meet Higgins' anxious gaze. "How long ago did this happen?" she questioned.

There was a pause and Higgins frowned. "Uh..." She looked down at her watch - _1:03am_. She frowned, closing her eyes, trying to remember. She had just been leaving the study when she'd been confronted by her attackers. That had been… a little after midnight, she recalled. She'd been up later than she'd wanted, she remembered, working on something for Magnum. "I'm not entirely sure. Less than an hour, but just barely?"

Dr. Ulani nodded, expression solemn. "Okay," she said. "We will do everything we can and we'll keep you updated with each step."

Higgins knew Ulani was the best of the best, that's why she was the one on call for Zeus and Apollo, but still, the squeezing in Juliet's chest and the rushed thrumming of her heart didn't lessen. "Thank you," she managed to get out.

"If you'll follow me, I'll take you to the waiting room," the tech who had brought them back said, standing by the door and holding it open.

Juliet was reluctant, so reluctant. She didn't want to leave her poor boy's side, but then she felt a gentle grip find her elbow and guide her away just enough for her to find her own momentum before letting go. Magnum stayed at her shoulder and the pair followed the tech out.

The waiting room wasn't vacant even at such a late hour, there were several pet parents waiting for news on their animals. Verdant Palms Veterinary Emergency was one of the very few emergency vets on the island and accidents happened at all hours of the day _and_ night. As they walked out the door leading into the back, eyes darted up from around the room. More strange looks, but Juliet was just too exhausted to care.

Magnum must have noticed because he motioned her to the closest free chair and softly said, "Here, sit down for a minute."

Juliet was drained enough that she didn't argue with him. She slid achingly down into the chair and blew out a long, strained breath. When Magnum didn't sit down as well, she brought her eyes up to look at him. He was glancing about the room.

"I'll be right back," he told her before she could question him and then he headed back out the front door.

Higgins sat there silently. Her surging adrenaline was starting to wane and she could feel its absence throughout her body. Everything ached, her face, her ribs, her hands. She looked down at her clenched fists to see bruised and bloodied knuckles. She remembered it, remembered swinging them, connecting with flesh. She didn't remember them hurting, but then she rarely did when in a fight for her life. The adrenaline and the stakes were always too high to pay attention to the little things like splitting knuckles.

Of all the things though, her head was the worst. It sang with angry, angry pain. Everything was too bright, too loud, and her vision swam with every adjustment of her head which was both disorienting and nauseating. She'd _thought_ was concussed before, now she was absolutely _sure_ of it.

Magnum stepped in front of her and she blinked at the suddenness of his reappearance. She immediately spied a first aid kit in his hand and she realized he must have gotten it out of the car. She took a breath. "I look that bad?"

A conflicted look passed over his face as if he wasn't sure if he should answer honestly or if the question was a trap. After a beat, he settled with, "Come with me."

Juliet frowned, but gingerly pushed herself into a standing position. Once again, Magnum was right at her shoulder, a step closer than he normally stood. He directed her across the waiting room to the single, All Genders bathroom and pushed the door open. She flinched when he flicked the light on inside, then a second time when she actually saw herself in the mirror.

She blew out a slow breath. There was blood, blood in her hair, blood down the side of her face and neck, blood down her champagne blouse. On her hands, on her arms. Everywhere. "I'd wondered at the looks I was receiving." She leaned closer to the mirror and tentatively lifted some of her crimson-stained hair to try to get a better look at the source of the mess.

"Bloody hell," she murmured after a moment, dropping her hand from her head and bracing against the counter.

"Quite literally," Magnum chimed, and Higgins snapped him a _look_ in the reflection of the mirror.

He quirked his lips just slightly to one side, hardly repentant.

Turning around to face him, she held a hand out to him for the first aid kit, but instead of handing it over, he pulled it farther away from her and made a "move it" motion with his free hand. She frowned at him, but was honestly far too exhausted to argue with him on the matter. She sidestepped, allowing him entrance into the bathroom as well. The door shut behind them.

It wasn't a tall counter so she was able to carefully slide herself back onto it without twisting her sore ribs too much and it was also wide enough there was still plenty of room next to the sink for Magnum to put the kit down.

He flipped it open and peered at the contents inside for a brief moment before grabbing a punch of paper towels from the nearby dispenser and running them under the water. He stepped in front of her and looked her over, seemingly trying to decide where to start first.

He met her eyes, a questioning look within his own. He was asking for permission. She offered him a tired, "It's fine, Magnum," before he leaned in slightly and began to gently wipe away the blood off the side of her face. After a few moments, his eyes darted back to hers and he asked, "Now, wanna tell me what happened?"

Juliet took as deep a breath as she could manage and began, "They were looking for the location of your client…"

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...


	2. Chapter 2

_"They were looking for the location of your client…"_

Thomas clenched his jaw. It was selfish, he knew, but he'd kind of been hoping that whatever had happened to Higgins and Apollo hadn't actually been related to him. He'd been hoping for a fluke, a random robbery or something else, but no, again it had been his fault and the guilt he felt over that turned his stomach.

"How many?" he asked, trying to concentrate on his task instead of allowing his anger over the situation to brew.

"Two," she answered, wincing when he caught the edge of the ragged abrasion on her cheekbone with the paper towel as he continued to wipe free the now tacky blood from Higgins' skin.

There was a beat where _'Only two?' _crossed his mind. It was just barely half a second, but she noticed regardless and frowned.

"Highly trained and they caught me off guard," she defended.

And she had no doubt been thoroughly exhausted, too, as she'd been helping him non-stop with his case and like him, hadn't been sleeping in an effort to get the information needed to help his client. Again, guilt stirred in his chest. He swallowed hard.

"Any idea who they were?"

He saw there was a moment where Higgins started to shake her head, thought better of it, and shrugged somewhat helplessly instead. "The one who shot Apollo," fury flashed through her eyes as she said the words, "I heard him say 'Titan' while addressing the other, but beyond that, no."

Magnum nodded thoughtfully, squinting just so as he leaned forward to get a better look at the still-oozing gash at Higgins' hairline. He cringed. From the looks of it, it would likely need stitches, but thankfully it wasn't so deep set into her hair that he couldn't put some temporary butterfly strips across it to help keep it clean and closed until he could actually convince Higgins to go to the hospital.

"So they caught you off guard..." he prompted when she fell silent. Her expression was glazed for a few beats before she closed her eyes. He'd had enough concussions in his lifetime to know what a struggle it was to try to collect your thoughts when everything was static and spinning.

"Yes. Right," she replied, her eyes reopening, then narrowing again at the light. "Um… I had just finished tasking the satellite to get that better look at the location of where I'd triangulated Dixon's cellphone to when I heard…" she shrugged slightly, "a noise from the living room, like someone bumping into a bit of furniture or something. I don't know. I thought you might have come in to accost me again with even more requests for favors or needle me for faster results, but then you _didn't_ suddenly appear in the study like a constantly recurring rash—"

"Okay, kinda overkill," he murmured, though he was secretly pleased that she was still with it enough to take pokes at him.

Higgins didn't even blink at his words. She just kept talking. "So, I got up to investigate." She met his eyes for just a moment before dropping them again.

He paused in his ministrations, pulling back to get a better look at her. She was frowning and he could tell she was struggling with something. "And…?" he gently prodded.

Her eyes snapped back up to his again and he could see a fire there, an anger that somehow he knew she was directing internally. "And I was overtired and I was caught off guard," she replied sharply.

_Ah, there it is_, his mind whispered. She _was_ angry and while it should have been directed at the pieces of garbage who had done this to her and even at Magnum himself for putting her in that situation, she was mad at herself instead.

"Higgins…" he sighed.

Clearly flustered at his rueful tone, she shook her head (though judging by the sudden tension around her eyes, she clearly regretted the sharp movements a second later) and rushed onward, saying, "It doesn't matter. There was one and he came at me, we had something of a small tussle, and just when I had him, the second appeared and he cracked me over the head with… well, I'm pretty sure it was an Aumakua stone sculpture from the bookshelf." She gazed off for a moment, her brow furrowing just so in thought. "I do hope it isn't damaged. Kumu will be quite displeased."

_Something of a _small _tussle?_ he thought. There had been overturned furniture, a broken chair, shattered pottery. There had been books and bits and baubles and blood strewn all over the place.

"Higgins," he pressed again. She was holding back and he was just trying to get an honest second out of her.

Her jaw clenched and she sucked an abrupt breath through her nose before saying in a bitter tone, "I should have been able to take them, Magnum, or at the very least…" she trailed off, lips pressed in a hard line.

"At the very least…?"

She turned her head from him and stared at the wall for a few moments, obviously warring over something in her mind. "I shouldn't have whistled for the dogs. Apollo being hurt—"

Magnum saw where her mind was going and immediately cut her off. "—_Isn't your fault._"

She huffed and gave him an irritated look as if she wasn't pleased with him for stating the truth. "Magnum…"

Magnum felt his guilt rise into an anger all his own. "If it's anyone's fault, it's mine," he stated.

Higgins frowned. "Don't be ridiculous."

"They came looking for _my_ client."

"_Our_ client."

Magnum cocked a confused eyebrow. "Our? I thought you hadn't agreed to be my partner yet."

"I haven't," she replied, "but I _was_ helping with this case, doing most of the work, of course, and you were –_are–_ going to pay me half."

"I am?"

She gave him a slow blink and peered up at him through her lashes, expression unwavering. "_Yes_."

He nodded. "Right. Yes. Half." He smirked, but the moment of lightness was short-lived when there was a sudden hitch in Higgins' breath and she quickly closed her eyes, pain etched clearly across her face.

Magnum huffed out an exasperated breath. "You need to go to the hospital."

Her eyes remained closed, but she forced out a strained, "I'm fine."

"You're concussed," he pointed out.

"Yes, maybe, but with the level of brain damage you've sustained, you should know by now as well as I do that there is little that can be done for a concussion."

That was true enough, he mentally conceded, but still…

He sighed internally. He knew that no matter what he said, Higgins would have a rebuttal. It was both infuriating _and_ admirable, and if Magnum was completely honest with himself, he knew that if he were in her shoes and someone he cared for (dog or not) was hurt, he'd put their well being before his as well.

"After we have news on Apollo then," he entreated.

"And Zeus," she returned.

Magnum bit back what was probably at least his hundredth sigh of the night and simply said, "Okay."

Some tension left her shoulders at this agreement and she gave him a wan smile, then she dropped her gaze to somewhere in the middle distance. He could see that she'd retreated back into her head and was stewing over something again. The facts of the attack were important, of course, but right now he was more so concerned with Higgins' state of mind. He didn't want to push. He wanted her to share when she was ready. And besides, when Katsumoto got there, he knew Higgins would slip right into her typical, straight-to-the-point, factual self and she would divulge every detail she could remember.

So, he left her to her thoughts for now and returned his focus to first aid. He cleaned off as much blood as he could. The staining in the hair he could do little about and he also didn't want to get too invasive. He would just let her get the rest he'd missed later on when she felt better.

The fact alone that Higgins was allowing him to actually do all this for her spoke volumes. It spoke of how very out of it she must have felt, but also of the vast level of trust she now seemed to have in him. Magnum wouldn't lie, it definitely made him feel good… (even if her tolerance of his attentions likely had more to do with the former than the latter).

He dropped the paper towels in the trash and moved on to the first aid kit. He pulled out an antiseptic wipe and ripped open the package, pulling it free and reaching for her face again. "This is going to sting," he warned and he gave her a moment to brace before brushing it over the abrasion on her cheekbone. A sharp, but quiet intake of breath from her was the only reaction, otherwise she didn't move.

He cleaned that as quickly as possible before he switched to the gash at her hairline. This time she flinched a little bit more and Magnum found himself whispering, "Sorry, sorry, sorry…" as he did his best to free the area of anything harmful. When he was done, he placed four butterfly strips across it to keep it closed.

Magnum took a breath and set eyes on her hands. There was blood all over them, her knuckles bruised and torn. He knew a lot of it was Apollo's and hers, but she no doubt had the DNA of her attacker mixed in there as well. He didn't want to just wipe it all away without at least trying to preserve some of the evidence for Katsumoto.

"It likely won't be admissible if we do the collection," Higgins said as if reading his mind. Her eyes also were on her hands now.

"It's possible," he agreed, "but there's also his DNA all over the living room, too. So, I'll take the samples and just let Katsumoto deal with it."

"In Apollo's teeth as well," Higgins added with the tiniest hint of pleasure in her tone.

Magnum smirked. She was tired, in pain, and worried, but was still clearly very proud of her dog. _Attaboy_, he thought and realized it was almost done fondly. Those hounds of hell hated him and the feeling was fairly mutual, but he really did have to admire the sheer power and intelligence those dogs possessed.

"Right," he chimed with a nod before he pulled out some gauze and a ziplock (now standard in all his first aid kits just in case he needed to collect evidence). He paused and dipped his head slightly to catch Higgins' eyes. "Ready?" he asked, holding his hand out to her. He actually expected her to say that this part she could do herself, but instead she surprised him. She took a breath and lifted her right hand, placing it into his extended one.

Magnum's chest squeezed the moment her fingers touched his with an emotion he couldn't quite describe. He knew that like him, Higgins struggled with trusting others and more so, allowing others to care for her. She was fiercely independent and after the trauma of her past (so little of which Magnum actually knew about), she tended to keep everyone at arm's-length. Somehow, very slowly, he'd managed to get under her defenses and it was a place he wanted to be very, very careful. He didn't want to give her any reason at all to pull away.

With all the gentleness he possessed, he used the gauze to take a good sample of the blood and whatever else was on her hands before depositing it in the ziploc bag. Then he wet some more paper towels and started working on washing away the rest. The very intimacy of the act, of her allowing him to clean blood from her hands and care for her injuries when she was more than capable of doing both, was unlike anything he realized he'd ever experienced before.

Magnum was momentarily so in awe of the situation that he almost missed when Higgins started talking again, her voice a tense, contemplative whisper.

"They meant to take me. Leverage, I suspect. That's why I called for the lads," her stated tightly, tone filled with both somberness and self-reproach.

He had been chased by those dogs enough to know that their presence could deter even the hardest of criminals. "Smart," he praised, though it was clear she wasn't looking for validation.

She gave a restrained shake of her head, frowning deeply. "I knew those men had guns, Magnum, and I called for them anyway."

"They're security," he reminded, using her own descriptor of the beasts, "And calling for them was the only choice you had in that moment."

"They're not _just _security," she said softly.

He paused at the heaviness of her tone and looked down at her. When she raised her head and gazed up at him through her lashes, he saw the damp glisten in her eyes.

He opened his mouth intent on saying something, anything, that would bring her even the smallest bit of comfort, but before he could, there was a knock at the door.

"Magnum, you in there?" It was Katsumoto.

Magnum stepped back away from Higgins, letting go of her hand, and snagged the doorknob, pulling the door open. "Yeah, we're here."

Katsumoto's eyes went from Magnum to Higgins. He frowned at what he saw. "You okay, Higgins?" he immediately asked.

"I'm fine," she replied.

When Katsumoto's eyes darted back to Magnum, he gave the detective a quick raise of the eyebrows and a _'Not really' _look. The tick in Katsumoto's jaw told Magnum that the other man had figured that himself.

"You guys about done?" the detective asked.

Magnum nodded. "Yeah, just about. We'll be five more minutes."

Katsumoto returned the nod. "Okay. I'll wait out here for you."

Magnum watched the man turn and head back into the waiting room before he let the door shut and returned to Higgins. He gave her a small smile. "Last part," he told her, retaking the hand he had been working on previously. He finished cleaning the blood off before grabbing another antiseptic wipe. He used it to cleanse her battered knuckles as gently as he could. After he was done, he looked at her again and asked, "Wrap them?"

"No," Higgins replied, "they're alright." She took a breath and gave him an almost shy, but genuine little smile. "Thank you."

He nodded and let go of her hand again, not wanting to make it awkward. "Of course."

Magnum packed up the first aid kit while Higgins slowly slid off of the counter, holding a hand to her ribs as she did so. He stopped shutting the lid of the kit midway and reached back inside to pull out the instant cold pack. He handed it to her without saying a word.

Her eyes darted down to her side and the expression that passed over her face when she looked back up was something akin to sheepish. "Thank you," she repeated.

"Always prepared," he said with a grin as he pulled the door open and let her step out first.

They spied Katsumoto in a corner where there weren't any pet parents directly nearby and headed over to him. He was on his phone, but as they reached him, he gave a crisp, "Okay, keep me updated," and then hung up.

He turned to face the two of them directly. "Alright, who's going to tell me what the hell happened?"

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED!


	3. Chapter 3

_"Alright, who's going to tell me what the hell happened?"_

"I suppose that would be me," Juliet replied, so bone-weary at this point that she couldn't keep it out of her tone.

Katsumoto seemed to notice because he side-stepped and gestured toward a vacant seat. "Have a seat, Higgins," he said and she could easily hear the unspoken 'Before you fall over' even in his generally monotone voice.

She didn't fight it, didn't try to put on a facade of strength. She just didn't have it in her at the moment. She sat down.

In a seeming act of solidarity, Magnum sat down next to her and Katsumoto turned to face them both, his phone out in his hand, ready to take notes. "Alright, start from the beginning."

Higgins took a breath. "Magnum has been working on a missing persons case," she said, glancing sideways at the man just to be sure that he was okay with her at least informing Katsumoto of the base facts. She knew how he was sometimes about telling HPD his business before he had figured things out for himself. The little sideways quirk of his lips and his soft expression told her that he didn't mind. "And tonight I was visited by a pair of men who were looking for the location of Magnum's client."

"Dixon LaMonte came to see me after, apparently, HPD didn't take him seriously when he reported his girlfriend missing," Magnum added in.

"Didn't take him seriously?" Katsumoto asked.

Higgins and Magnum glanced at each other before he continued with the story. "Dixon is a former drug addict. Pretty well known at his local precinct, too. So when he showed up there beat up and drugged, they just brushed off his claims as having gone on a bender and making things up."

"How did he end up getting your name?"

"I've garnered a reputation on this island," Magnum stated, straightening his spine just so in an almost preening manner.

"A reputation of taking a case no matter the type of pay or even if there's pay at all." Juliet said it in her typical sardonic tone, but in truth, she really did admire Magnum's willingness to help others even when they had little to give in return. Not that she admitted that to him too often. His head was big enough as it was.

Magnum shot her a cheeky grin. "I'm an excellent deal."

Higgins bit back a smile.

"_Anyway_," Katsumoto intoned.

"Dixon told us that he and his girlfriend, Marissa Hale, were both taken and he was forced to fight in some kind of underground fight club while they held Marissa has leverage."

"Underground fight club?" Katsumoto questioned, glancing up from his phone to give them an incredulous look. "And you're sure he _wasn't _high? Because that sounds like something coming out of Hollywood."

"Admittedly I was also skeptical," Higgins said, raising a hand to rub the back of her neck. She could feel the tension building there, muscles getting tighter as time went on. "However, after we did a bit of digging, it became clear that his claims held truth."

"Higgins located a number of missing persons reports that had similarities to Dixon's – fighters from low income homes or troubled backgrounds."

"The alarming part was not just the fighters going missing," Higgins chimed in, "but when I looked deep enough, I found that in quite a high percentage of cases, there was a second missing person who was in some way related to the first. "

Katsumoto still looked dubious. "If that many people have been going missing, why hasn't the HPD heard about it?"

"The people behind it are very careful," Magnum stated.

"The hard part was connecting a lot of them," Juliet said, squinting her eyes just so as she struggled a bit to pull together the pieces in her mind. She knew it all, but the knock to her head had made some things hazy and it was taking her longer than it usually would to recollect all the details. "Some were simple –a significant other, a family member, a best friend– but for the others, it was the barista at their usual coffee place or the lifeguard at their favorite surfing spot. Not an easily-identified connection, but still linked."

Magnum nodded and, keeping the ball rolling, added, "And when I went out asking questions, it turned out that all of cursory connections were actually deeper than most people knew. The missing had formed friendships with those other people, with the barista, with the lifeguard, and so on."

"Okay," Katsumoto said slowly, "so if this story is true, why would they want LaMonte so badly? Does he know the location of this fight club?"

"No," Magnum replied, "they move the operation around and never have fights in the same place, but he reportedly knows two of the faces behind it."

Katsumoto's brow ticked downward. "Who?"

"Gerald and Edith Silas."

And the brow plunged. "The founders of the Warriors Way outreach program?"

Magnum nodded. "The very same."

"And he supposedly has proof of it on the phone that he stole and stashed right before he escaped," Juliet filled in.

"Have you retrieved the phone?" Katsumoto asked.

Magnum shook his head as Higgins said, "No, not yet. Dixon was clever enough to enable the GPS on the phone _and_ remember the number, but when Magnum and I drove by—"

"There were a fair amount of unfriendly faces loitering about," Magnum stated.

"Yes, and Magnum wanted to return after dark to have a look around, but I thought it wiser to first use other means to analyze the situation, so I—" Juliet stopped short as memories of the evening suddenly flooded her head. Sitting at the desk in the study, working on the computer, tasking the satellite, and…

"Oh my God," she breathed out.

"What?" Magnum immediately asked in clear concern.

Higgins met his eyes, urgency flaring in her chest, making her dizzy. "The satellite – I had just been about to call you when those men broke in. But my head..." She frowned deeply, embarrassed and furious at herself for not having remembered until now. "I'm sorry. I—" She bit off the excuse. There wasn't time. "Footage showed activity. People being ushered or carried into trucks."

Magnum stared at her for a beat as the magnitude of what she'd just said hit him. "They're moving them."

Juliet inclined her head. "Yes," she said, "I think so."

"How long ago was that?" Katsumoto asked.

"Over an hour ago…" Juliet supplied, feeling her stomach drop. It was likely too late now, she immediately realized. They had probably left and taken their captives with them. She clenched her jaw hard, now _beyond_ furious with herself.

There was calculation in Magnum's eyes as if he were strategizing, but no judgement there, which for Higgins made it so much worse.

"Where is this place?" Katsumoto asked. His voice remained steady, but there was a shift in his body language. He was ready to move, ready to act.

"A warehouse on the corner of Banyan and Hala," she answered.

Katsumoto dialed his phone and raised it to his ear as he looked directly at Magnum and said, "I'm assuming it's useless to tell you to stay here." He didn't say it as a question. It was just a resigned statement of fact. He didn't even wait for an answer, just turned and walked out the door, back up being ordered as the door swung shut.

Magnum's expression immediately grew conflicted and Higgins understood. He wanted to go desperately, but he no doubt also felt that he needed to stay with her, to make sure she was okay.

Higgins decided to save him any further deliberation. "Just go, Magnum."

"But—"

"I'm fine," she pressed. She wasn't exactly fine, not in the least, but she wouldn't keep him, not from this. "Go help those people."

It seemed for half a second like he was going to argue, but then she settled him with a stern _look_ and he nodded. "Okay," he agreed. "I'll call you."

"I don't have my phone," she pointed out and felt in that moment suddenly naked without it.

Magnum frowned slightly. "Here, take mine." He offered it to her.

She frowned in return. "That doesn't make sense. How can you call me without a phone?"

A cocky grin slid across Magnum's face. "Katsumoto will be there. I'll just borrow his."

Juliet puffed out a tired, but amused breath and took his phone. "Go."

He shot her one last smile and then headed out the door. Two seconds later, she heard the Ferrari roar to life and speed off.

Higgins took a deep breath and blew it out slowly as she closed her eyes. She could only think one thing in that moment: _Please be okay. _She didn't know if it was meant for Apollo, Zeus, the missing people, or Magnum. Perhaps it was for all of them.

TBC...

* * *

_Author's Note:_ Please do forgive me for the enormous delay along with this rather short, unsatisfying chapter. I am not dead and yes, fear not, I am continuing the story. Thank you all for your beautiful, kind comments. More to come!


	4. Chapter 4

Magnum was worried about her. He just couldn't help it. He was well aware that Higgins was as tough as they came, but he could tell that this had rocked her and it hadn't felt right leaving her, not with as pale as she was. His hands tightened on the steering wheel and his jaw clenched,

It was done now. He couldn't turn around, Higgins would likely tell him off and send him right back out again anyway. He took a breath and focused himself, focused on his driving. It was late enough that there wasn't a ton of traffic to contend with, so the few cars that were on the roads he easily maneuvered around, and not for the first time, he chose to view the posted speed limits as _suggestions_ rather than _the law_.

He made it from the vet's office in Waimanalo Beach to Honolulu in just under fifteen minutes. When he turned onto Banyan Road, he flipped his headlights off and dropped into something closer to a crawl than a race, more so to prevent the engine grumble of his "big, red tallywacker" from drawing unwanted attention than anything else. He crept closer to Hala, pulling the Ferrari over a good 500 or so yards down before he turned off the engine and grabbed his M1911A1 (the STI Costa Comp Carry, because he liked a little flair) pistol. He took a breath and got out of the car.

As he stealthed along, he realized that he had somehow managed to beat Katsumoto there. Then again, it didn't exactly surprise him. His (Robin's) car had just a little bit more...oomph to it. He squinted an eye at himself. Who described such a powerful piece of machinery like that? _Oomph_. Definitely a Rick word, he decided. He glanced back over his shoulder and though it was cloaked in shadows and he'd moved far enough away from it now that he couldn't see it, he silently vowed to the car never to use that word in reference to it again.

Magnum refocused on his task. He knew he should wait for Katsumoto, but time was not on their side. These types of operations ran on stealth and speed, the entire business would be at risk if they took too long. So, if they hadn't already moved all their fighters and hostages by now, they would _have _to be finishing the transfer very soon. If there was anyone there, anyone left, maybe he could at least stall them until the cavalry arrived.

He ducked down and moved in closer.

* * *

Higgins did her best not to tap her fingers or look at her watch for the hundredth time. She had tried to quietly focus on some pranayama exercises, on breathing purposefully in an effort to ease some of her anxiety, but she just didn't have it in her to concentrate. Every time a door opened, either from the back or the entrance of the clinic, she looked up, hoping for a friendly face, for some good news, for…

Magnum's phone suddenly blared some obnoxiously loud song Higgins didn't know the name of, making her jump. She looked down at it and answered immediately. "TC," she breathed out.

There was half a pause. _"Higgy?"_

She recognized the question in his tone. "Magnum lent me his phone." Her hands trembled slightly as she prepared herself to ask the burning question in her mind. She closed her eyes and adopted a composed tone that starkly contrasted the twisting in her gut, "News?"

It seemed she was known better than she thought because the reply she got was rushing, as if they felt they needed to soothe her. ('They' - because it seemed TC had put her on speaker phone and Rick was in the other seat.)

_"It's okay! We found him,"_ Rick said.

_"He's fine," _followed TC right after.

_"Right, big buddy?" _A booming bark answered Rick's question and the two men laughed.

Juliet felt immediately dizzy with relief and had to take several more breaths to chase away the static from her vision. "Thank God," she murmured, pressing a shaking hand to her forehead. "Where was he?"

_"Locked inside the gardener's shed," _TC replied.

_"Looks like maybe our guy attempted to duck in there to get away, but didn't close the door fast enough. Or he did it on purpose to lure Zeus inside. Either way, it looks like Zeus tore him up. Place was a mess. Unfortunately, he got away though, despite our good buddy's best efforts." _There was some muffled talk as if Rick had turned from the phone, but Higgins was pretty sure he was cooing at the dog. She did make out a pretty clear, _"Such a good boy, yes, he is."_

_"Speaking of a mess, you okay?"_ TC asked. _"We saw inside the house."_

"I'm fine. Just a small scrap," she dismissed. She didn't need them to worry about her, not when there were more pressing matters.

_"A small scrap?"_ Rick coughed out disbelieving laugh. _"Higgins, I've seen less damage in a ten man bar brawl. You threw down."_

_Not well enough_, she thought derisively before shaking her head slightly to chase off the 'if only's. "Where are you now?" she asked, changing the subject.

_"En route to you,"_ TC replied. _"Not much else we could do there and we figured you might want your second shadow there for moral support."_

_"And maybe us, too,"_ Rick threw in there.

Juliet smiled slightly at that. She wasn't sure what she really had done to deserve the friendship of such generous and caring men. She knew they were a package deal that came along with Magnum, but she also had no doubt in her mind that even if they were strangers to each other, they would still do whatever they could to help.

A cold sensation suddenly chased away the warmth of her thoughts and she shivered slightly. There wasn't time for sentiment. _Magnum_, her mind whispered. "No," she said aloud.

_"No?"_ Rick asked, sounding as if he were trying to decide if they should be hurt or not.

"Magnum," she answered. "He needs your help." She wasn't sure why she felt so adamant about that, Katsumoto was with him after all, but still, the trepidation she felt at the idea of him out there without her or his best friends to have his back still remained. She was worried about him, she realized. _When did that begin?_ She frowned slightly in wonder.

There was an almost audible shift in mood as all levity left the boys. "What's going on?" Rick immediately asked.

"Where's Magnum?" TC followed up.

Juliet took a breath and started to explain.

* * *

Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. Magnum tightened his grip on his pistol as he carefully peered around the corner of the building. There several men with guns loitering around two unmarked commercial box trucks, both with engines running and back doors rolled up exposing the dark insides. He could just barely make out movement from the shadows within, but it only took him a moment to realize what it was — people. They were filled with people huddled together and bound. His chest constricted at the sight.

"Let's go, Titan! We don't have time for this shit!" a harsh voice yelled a moment before a large, bearded man built like a mack truck stepped out of the warehouse side door with a clearly-drugged person slung over one shoulder and an AKM assault rifle hanging off the other. He trotted over to the truck farthest from the door like the weight of the man he was carrying meant nothing to him. In the bed of the truck, another man appeared and reached down, hoisting the unconscious man off of the big guy's shoulder and depositing him back into the shadows. A few moments later, he returned, jumped to the ground, and slid down the back door, locking it in place. "This one's done," he announced to the big guy.

Mack Truck nodded his head and jutted his chin toward the truck cab, saying, "Get moving. We'll meet you." The second man nodded and jogged to the front, climbing in and shifted the gear.

Magnum silently cursed as he watched truck start to drive off. Where the hell was Katsumoto?

"Titan! Let's _go_!"

A few seconds later, someone else stepped out of the warehouse. He wasn't as big as Mack Truck, but still well-built. He was clean shaven and close-cropped with dark clothes and an even darker scowl. "Give me a fucking second," he snapped. He was walking with something of a limp, had new bruises on his face, and Magnum could see his right arm had been bandaged as well.

Magnum immediately made the connection. _Zeus and Apollo_. Higgins had said she'd heard the man who had shot Apollo call the other man "Titan". Magnum's blood immediately began to boil. This was one of the men who had attacked Higgins.

Titan was half-dragging a woman with him. Just by the glazed look on her face, Magnum knew that they'd given her something to keep her compliant. She stumbled as Titan tugged her along and he growled, jerking her closer to him.

It took him a second because he was so focused on Titan and the burning anger he felt for the man, but then Magnum realized who the woman was — Marissa Hale, Dixon's girlfriend.

"Christ, Titan," Mack Truck spat before he marched over, pulled Marissa out of Titan's grip, and forcibly hauled her to the remaining truck. He lifted her high enough to dump her inside before he hopped up in beside her and picked her up again, dragging her toward the back.

"She's the last. Pack it up!" he said as he reemerged and jumped down. He grabbed the strap on the back door and dragged it down, slamming it shut with more force than was necessary. He locked it.

Everyone sprang into motion. Those guarding the perimeter broke position and headed for the vehicles parked to the side, climbing in. Two pulled out in front of the truck and waited. Mack Truck jogged over to a black Escalade with tinted windows and slid into the passenger seat while Titan limped toward the open driver side door of the truck.

Still no Katsumoto. No lights, no sirens. Magnum cursed again. They were going to get away. Titan was going to get away.

_No_.

* * *

**TBC...**

**Author's Note:** Phew! We made it through another chapter! ZEUS IS ALIVE. You're welcome. Also, we are also a day away from the Season 2 premiere! I am sooooo excited, I cannot wait. What are you all hoping will happen this season?


	5. Chapter 5

As Magnum ducked behind a dumpster, listening to the sound of bullets ricocheting off the metal, he considered that the decision he'd made might have been a poor one. Maybe not the complete worst, but when it came to life choices, this definitely was up there with some of the less-thought-out ones.

He'd wanted to stop the truck, which he had (by shooting out the back tires), but that had in turn exposed his presence, and the guns he'd seen the men carrying definitely _weren't _just for show. If there was ever a time when he would have liked the bad guys to be holding fake guns...

He reached for his pocket where his phone… _Dammit_. He remembered he'd left it with Higgins. No calling for backup then. He took a breath, considered, then nodded to himself - really only one thing left to do.

It was time for some world famous Thomas Magnum improvisation.

Crouched low, he carefully eased his head around the corner of the dumpster to take stock of the situation and was met immediately by another volley of gunfire. He darted back behind the dumpster. There was an array of debris around. Pallets, boxes, bags of trash, a forklift. He took it all in, his mind mapping the place and formulating a plan.

He was pinned down where he was with no direct lines of sight to alleviate some of the pressure, which meant he needed to move. His eyes immediately drifted down to the wheels on the dumpster, his half-ass plan taking form right before him. He mentally crossed his fingers and pushed a little on the side of the dumpster.

It moved.

With a breath of relief, Magnum started pushing the dumpster along as quickly as he could, studiously ignoring the bullets _zing_ing off of his makeshift shield.

He hit a downward slope and the dumpster started picking up speed without him even pushing it. The plan continued to evolve, and just as the dumpster rolled past the shadows near the forklift, Magnum gave it an extra push for good measure and ducked back into the darkness, dropping down behind the forklift.

The dumpster continued to roll, the spray of bullets following along with it.

Magnum took a breath. _Now for phase two..._

* * *

Higgins felt nauseous and her head was pounding. She was completely depleted of all her earlier adrenaline, taking all of her strength and energy with it. She was stiff and could now feel every single bump and bruise. She hated to admit it, but she very nearly wished she _was _at the hospital or at the very least, at home in bed.

Leaning forward, hand pressed to her forehead, she stared at the ground. In her other hand, Magnum's phone was clutched tightly.

A pair of shoes suddenly came into view, pink and green with toes that lit up. She raised her head and was met by the crystal blue eyes of a little girl. Immediately the child held out her hands, one with a kid-sized bottle of water and the other with an on-the-go packet of Advil. "My mom said that you looked like you could use this," she stated by way of an explanation.

Higgins glanced past the child to see a woman with the same eyes looking at her sympathetically. She returned her attention to the girl. "Thank you," she said gently, taking the items. "That was very thoughtful of you both."

The girl, who couldn't have been older than seven, looked for a moment like she wasn't sure what to do, but then a resolute expression crossed her face as if a decision had been made and she sat down next to Higgins. "Was that big, black dog yours?" she asked.

"Yes," Juliet replied. Her hands shook as she tried to open the bottle, so the girl took it back from her and made surprisingly quick work of twisting off the cap. She handed it back and waited expectantly for Higgins to take a sip of the water before asking, "What's his name?"

"His name is Apollo."

The girl's face lit up. "Like the Greek god?"

Higgins smiled. "Yes, like the Greek god. You're very clever, aren't you?"

The girl nodded, replying, "My mom reads to me. We finished Percy Jackson, so now we're reading the Trials of Apollo."

"I've never heard of those books. Are they any good?" Higgins asked.

"Really good!" The girl paused for a long moment, her enthusiasm waning. "My dog is here, too." It seemed her mind had returned to more somber things.

Higgins frowned slightly at the girl's worried tone. "What's your dog's name?"

"Lulu. She's a weiner dog." She twisted her mouth to the side unhappily. "She got into my mom's purse and ate gum. It has uh, xy… xyla… the stuff that isn't sugar."

"Xylitol?"

The girl nodded again, frowning. "Yeah. It has that in it."

Higgins frowned also. She knew that xylitol could be deadly to dogs if ingested. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Nora," the girl's mother called softly from across the waiting room. The expression on her face was that of a parent who hadn't intended for her child to invade.

Higgins sent her an assuasive smile.

The girl - Nora, it seemed - popped back up onto her feet. "I better go." She took two steps away before turning back and saying, "I hope Apollo feels better."

"I hope that Lulu feels better as well," Juliet returned sincerely.

As Nora walked back over to her mother, Higgins met the other woman's eyes one more time and mouthed, 'Thank you.' The woman smiled and nodded before her attention turned to her daughter.

Higgins took a moment to open the Advil packet and swallow the two tablets with another sip of water before she returned the cap to the top and placed the bottle onto the side table next to her. She took a breath and looked down at the phone in her hand. The screen remained irritatingly blank. No calls, no texts. Her pulse continued to thrum with anxiety. She hated waiting. "Come on, Magnum…" she whispered.

* * *

Magnum dragged the unconscious mercenary into the shadows and dropped him where he couldn't be seen, mentally wiping his hands of the man. Five down, two left.

He'd been sneaking around the perimeter of the disabled vehicles, using silent takedowns to remove enemies from the field. He just needed to buy a little more time and then Katsumoto would show up with the cavalry… he hoped.

If he was being honest, he was actually feeling fairly optimistic, all things considering.

Or that was until he rounded a corner and seemed to run right into a fist. It almost flattened him and as he caught himself with a hand on the concrete to keep from falling, he dropped his pistol. Adrenaline racing, he reflexively pushed himself back up, pivoting around just in time to catch the gun that was sweeping toward him from the side. He grabbed the wrist attached to the sidearm and twisted. There was a pained grunt followed immediately by the sound of the gun hitting the ground and skidding away. That's when Magnum realized who was in front of him.

Titan.

Magnum's mind flashed to the image of Higgins unconscious in a pool of blood on the floor, and to the panic he'd felt when the paleness of her skin in contrast to the bright red had made him sure she was dead. For those few seconds before he'd actually found her pulse, the cold that had seized his heart had almost overwhelmed him.

Now though, Magnum felt fire, white hot anger twisting his guts. His vision narrowed. All he saw was Titan.

* * *

**TBC...**

**Author's Note:** I LIVE! And I have not forgotten about this story. Sorry this chapter is so short, but fear not, more is on the way! The new episodes have inspired me to get back to work on my fics... and also extreme boredom stemming from being furloughed, because apparently training dogs is not considered essential. Meh. (They say that now, but I have a very distinct feeling that once things start to return to normal, I am going to be inundated with pet parents who have realized just how badly behaved their dogs are after having spent several months stuck at home with them!) Hope you all are well and that you're staying safe!


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